Learning Standards:


National Science Education Standards for Volcano Unit:

Learning Performances:


  • Draw a model of the convection currents in Earth's mantle.
  • Describe a convection current and its role in moving Earth's lithospheric plates.
  • Explain the Rock cycle and the different characteristics of Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic Rocks.
  • Make observations of rock samples.
  • Classify rock samples based on observations.
  • Define minerals.
  • Explain each of the physical properties that can be used to identify a mineral; color, luster, hardness, streak, density, crystal shape, cleavage and fracture.
  • Identify unknown minerals using physical properties.
  • Define igneous rock, extrusive & intrusive igneous rock, and crystallization.
  • Analyze the size of crystals that form from a solution under different cooling conditions.
  • Analyze the properties of a volcanic ash sample and its general composition.
  • Develop a working definition for the word "ash."
  • Observe samples of rock formed by consolidated ash.
  • Investigate how volcanic ash erupts into and settles out of the air.
  • Determine how the size of airborne materials affects where and how fast they settle.
  • Draw conclusions about how weather conditions affect the direction and speed at which ash moves.
  • Identify constructive and destructive effects of ash fall (land formation, human health, weather).
  • Analyze causes and effects of volcanic eruptions and the ability of scientists to forecast volcanic activity.
  • Classify the effects of volcanic eruptions as destructive or constructive.
  • Explain the characteristics that differentiate between Composite, Shield, and Cinder Cone volcanoes.
  • Identify and compare the viscosity of liquids.
  • Observe changes in viscosity when liquids are mixed with a solid or heated.
  • Define viscosity and relate the viscosity of lava to the type of volcano it forms.
  • Model the movement of molten rock through fractures in the lithosphere, over Earth's surface, and under water.
  • Devise working definitions for the words magma and lava.
  • Identify landforms created by molten rock.
  • Define hotspot.
  • Explain how the island chain of Hawaii was formed.
  • Debunk Hawaiian myths by applying what we have learned about volcanoes in this unit.
  • Write a Hawaiian myth using scientific facts they have learned about volcanoes.
  • Apply all of this units main concepts to devise an evacuation plan for an island with an active volcano that is about to erupt.

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